XRP Futures make $1.5 million on their first trade day on CME

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) officially launched XRP futures trading on May 19, which recorded $1.5 million in total trading volume on its first day, with both standard and micro contracts seeing active participation.

Four standard contracts, reflecting 50,000 XRP each, were exchanged at an average price of $2.40, according to statistics from the CME. This was equivalent to about $480,000 in theoretical volume. A further one million dollars’ worth of trades came from 106 micro contracts, with each contract linked to 2,500 XRP.

The contracts are cash-settled and use the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate as a benchmark, published daily at 3:00 PM UTC. The listing was made possible after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) approved the decision to classify XRP as a commodity. CME now offers XRP derivatives under the existing regulatory framework.

With its initial trading session, CME’s XRP futures outpaced decentralized exchange dYdX in daily notional volume and trailed only slightly behind offshore derivatives platforms BitMEX and HTX. 

According to Coinglass data, BitMEX recorded $19.3 million in XRP futures trading that day, while HTX registered $20.9 million. 

The launch of regulated XRP Futures on @CMEGroup marks a key institutional milestone for XRP…and very excited to report that Hidden Road cleared the first block trade on CME at the opening! https://t.co/Njj8AUSY5K

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) May 19, 2025

On Monday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse called the futures CME debut “an institutional achievement for XRP.” He also confirmed that institutional prime broker Hidden Road executed the first block trade on the platform.

Spot XRP ETF could come soon

The launch of CME’s XRP futures has made analysts a little more optimistic about a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in the coming months.

According to Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, the debut of XRP futures at CME makes a spot ETF approval more likely, saying on social media that it’s “only a matter of time.” Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that eight spot XRP ETFs are currently under review by the SEC.

In February, analysts estimated a 65% probability that a spot XRP ETF would gain approval. On decentralized betting platform Polymarket, there’s an 84% chance a spot ETF would go live in 2025.

List of active XRP ETF applications

Multiple major financial firms have filed applications with the SEC for spot XRP ETFs, many of which were acknowledged earlier this year. 

Bitwise Investment Advisers, founded in 2017, filed its application on October 2, 2024. The SEC acknowledged it on February 18, 2025, under Form S-1. 

Canary Capital, a venture capital firm based in Sydney, submitted its XRP ETF proposal on October 8, 2024, with acknowledgment on February 19. 

21Shares filed its XRP ETF application on November 21, 2024. The SEC acknowledged the submission on February 19, 2025, under Form 19b-1. The firm is valued at $2 billion after raising $25 million from hedge fund Marshall Wace.

WisdomTree filed for its XRP ETF on December 2, 2024, and it was acknowledged on February 19. The firm has a longstanding presence in the ETF space, having launched its first fund in 2006.

On January 13, 2025, Grayscale Investments, an asset manager handling $35 billion, sought to transform its $16.1 million XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The XRP ETF proposal was filed on January 17, 2025, using Form N-1A by ProShares, a firm with $70 billion in AUM and a reputation for its Bitcoin futures ETF.

On January 21, 2025, RexShares, the firm behind the MicroSectors ETPs, applied to the SEC to list XRP as an ETF. Due to the recent reorganization under the new name of REX Financial, the firm recorded more than $5 billion in AUM by the end of 2024.

The Cboe BZX Exchange submitted an XRP ETF application on February 6, 2025. It was acknowledged on February 14 and filed under Form 19b-1. Cboe handles around 12% of daily US equity trading volume.

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